Abraham Lincoln said, ‘Think of strangers as friends you haven’t met yet.’

The other day, Keir Starmer said that the UK risks becoming ‘island of strangers’ without more immigration curbs.

Some politicians claimed that his words had echoed Enoch Powell’s notorious rivers of blood speech, which imagined a future multicultural Britain where the white population “found themselves made strangers in their own country.”

What Mr Starmer actually said was, “In a diverse nation like ours … we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.”

Later, Mr Starmer said “Migrants make a massive contribution to the UK, and I would never denigrate that.” He’s right. They do. But has the damage been done already ?

Some people might think he’s pandering to right wing voters. Perhaps Keir Starmer is trying to combat the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party. We can only speculate.

I assume in this context a ‘stranger’ means someone who’s a migrant. Or someone who doesn’t speak English. Not second generation. Or third. Or tenth. Just newly arrived ‘strangers.’

There are so many ‘strangers’ who work for the care of the elderly, and healthcare, accountancy, and technology. Many who work in education, IT and cybersecurity, engineering and construction, and financial services.

Those who do seasonal work, like fruit picking.

People who support the economy and pay taxes.

Where would we be without them? How can we embrace their skills better and develop best practices? How can we all learn from each other?

What if we don’t perceive anyone as a ‘stranger’? What if we look at each individual on merit, their skills, their kindness, their willingness to work and to help? Their desire to belong, to share. What if we all work hard to integrate everyone who wants to work hard towards the same goal into our communities, to invest in inclusion, to become stronger together? I’m not just thinking of newcomers to the country either. We’ve all been newcomers. All ‘outsiders’ crave acceptance.

Any division incited through a politician’s soundbites can only have a negative knock-on effect in already divided communities.

We need to inspire trust and cohesion.

Let’s look at best practices in other countries. Let’s learn from what works best elsewhere. Let’s talk to everyone involved and avoid a climate of suspicion and mistrust. And most of all, let’s not call another human being a stranger. Let’s be ‘that nation that walks forward together.’

A friend of mine recently posted a poem by Michael Rosen that says it all. I hope it’s OK to use it here. I’ll leave it with you. It’s the best way to end this blog.

I lay in bed

hardly able to breathe

but there were people to sedate me,

pump air into me

calm me down when I thrashed around

hold my hand and reassure me

play me songs my family sent in

turn me over to help my lungs

shave me, wash me, feed me

check my medication

perform the tracheostomy

people on this ‘island of strangers’

from China, Jamaica, Brazil, Ireland

India, USA, Nigeria and Greece.

I sat on the edge of my bed

and four people came with

a frame and supported me

or took me to a gym

where they taught me how

to walk between parallel bars

or kick a balloon

sat me in a wheel chair

taught me how to use the exercise bike

how to walk with a stick

how to walk without a stick

people on this ‘island of strangers’

from China, Jamaica, Brazil, Ireland

India, USA, Nigeria and Greece.

If ever you’re in need as I was

may you have an island of strangers

like I had.